Case fan failure - why?

[meester]

It seems my case fan has failed. At least, it's no longer spinning, and my CPU cores reached 102,93,95 and 99 degrees.

I have taken the side off the case, and the temperature has dropped to a manageable 79/76/76/76.

What is there in the fan to fail, i.e. to stop completely? I guess I just need a new fan, but I was surprised it would simply stop and fail to power up like that.

 

[meester]

also is this likely to have caused damage to my hardware? My guess it has been running in this red-hot state for a while. Maybe a couple of weeks.

 

[thescreensavers]

Thats usually how they die, the stop spinning. lol

are those temps in F or C?

 

[meester]

Originally posted by: thescreensavers
Thats usually how they die, the stop spinning. lol

are those temps in F or C?

celsius.

I was wondering why they would stop spinning - a blown fuse or something?

 

[Rubycon]

Cheap sleeve bearing fan + dust = certain failure.

 

[meester]

So should I just go out to the store and buy whatever 120mm fan they have?

Or is there a specific fan I should order online?

 

[Zap]

If you want a longer lasting fan, look for ball bearings. Other than that, you can choose between noise and sound (quiet).

 

[zagood]

1st thing, make sure the plug didn't get loose somehow.

Also might want to test another fan where that one was plugged in. You don't want to buy a new fan and find out the fan header/PSU connector is toast.

General recommendations for 120mm case fans -
- If you have to buy locally, Antec Tri-Cools are probably what you'll find. Or coolermaster. The Antec Tri-Cool fans have a built in speed adjuster that can come in handy. They're usually overpriced. Stay away from brands like "mad dog" and, from my experience, SilenX.

- If you want to save money online, look for Yate Loon D12SL-12. This is the low speed version, there is also a high and medium speed model. Jab-tech.com has the lowest price. Xoxide.com has the best price/shipping combination. Petrastechshop.com has the best quality Yate Loons, but they're more expensive.

- If you want to buy online and spend a little more for better bearings, I'd recommend the Scythe S-Flex SFF21E or SFF21D. The "E" model is a little faster, hence a little louder.

- For your own research, lmgtfy.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

All this advice (posted before me) is good.

Sometimes, ignoring Rubycon's remarks (which are sound), I've used sleeve-bearing fans. But I tend to gravitate more exclusively to ball-bearing.

This leads me to choose fan-deployment in my computer cases so there is some redundancy, even for trying to minimize the number of fans. [Many will remember how some hott-dawg installed fans on the two broad sides of his computer case, using as many as 25 120mm fans per side-panel.]

So I duct the case-exhaust fan to the CPU cooler (a tower-type heatpipe cooler), with a "pusher" fan on the cooler's intake side. I use more than one intake fan, etc.

Make a regular chore of keeping the dust and kruft out of your computer case! You can also filter the intake fans, using the cruder-grade fiberglass matting that can be found in $1.00 18"x24" AC filters. This cruder-grade blue-fiberglass material has better airflow than so-called "AC-vent" filters that can be purchased in packets of a more convenient size. That, in turn, dispels the criticism or preference of some which cites the "reduced airflow" of intake-fan-filtering.

 

[meester]

I bought the Yate Loon. Only trouble is the plastic squidgy connector things keeping the fan attached to the case seemed not to be removeable without breaking them, and the fan came without any screws.

What are those plastic things called? - I think I need some.

 

[meester]

I found some screws on ebay 30mm x M3. Fan installed correctly I guess (fan label pointing towards the rear of the case).

Am running Prime 95 now - temps after a few minutes at 90/84/84/87 degrees.

I suspect this is caused by junk Coolermaster CPU fan (which is spinning at 2150 rpm), rather than my new Yate Loon (1424 rpm) or my Antec hard drive enclosure fan (1917 rpm).

Motherboard temperature is 43 degrees.

 

[meester]

this is my HSF

http://www.coolermaster-usa.co...ct.php?product_id=2806

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sounds like a totally shot ball bearing, or the grease got contaminated with dust. is the fan hard to turn by hand? If it's easy to turn it may just be an electrical failure (ex: the coil, or wire, board etc).

 

[meester]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Sounds like a totally shot ball bearing, or the grease got contaminated with dust. is the fan hard to turn by hand? If it's easy to turn it may just be an electrical failure (ex: the coil, or wire, board etc).

It did seem to turn ok, but I have binned it now, and replaced with a new one.